§ SIR ELLIS ASHMEAD-BARTLETTI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he can inform the House for what cause Her Majesty's Government by the recent Anglo-Russian agreement accepted the extension of the Russian sphere of interest up to the Great Wall of China, that is, close to Pekin.
§ *MR. BRODRICKNo question arose in the Anglo-Russian Agreement of extending the Russian sphere of interest, but of defining the limits within which Her Majesty's Government would not apply for concessions or oppose them, if applied for by the Russian Government. The Great Wall of China forms a natural division, and is the boundary of Manchuria in the provinces of Mukdar.
§ SIR ELLIS ASHMEAD-BARTLETTAm I to understand that the Russian sphere of interest has not been extended to the Great Wall of China?
§ *MR. BRODRICKI said the question of extending it did not arise in the Agreement.